League of Cities Gathering: Some Call It a Junket, Some Education : Government: Local officials will travel home today as conference ends. In most parts of the county, taxpayers picked up the tab.

Moorpark Councilman Scott Montgomery has sat through countless League of Cities conferences--and, he says, has gleaned valuable tips from every one.

Ventura Councilman Gary Tuttle has attended two--and calls them, point-blank, a waste of time and money.

The 95th annual League of California Cities conference ends today, and several dozen Ventura County politicians will trek home from San Francisco with their own opinions about the yearly meetings.

For three days, city leaders from Simi Valley to Santa Paula have hobnobbed with their peers, voted on scores of resolutions and participated in workshops on topics from immigration to graffiti to tax audits. Every city in the county sent at least two council members, plus assorted staffers.

Thousand Oaks weighed in with the largest contingent: 11 participants, including three planning commissioners, two council members and City Clerk Nancy Dillon, who was installed as president of the league’s clerk division.

In most cities, taxpayers picked up the tab, which this year ran anywhere from $500 to $1,000 per participant, depending on hotel bills, food allowances and transportation costs.

And that expense irked some who stayed behind--including Tuttle, a first-term councilman in the midst of a tough reelection campaign.

“Frankly, I found that the city can spend its money better than by sending me to one of those conferences,” Tuttle said, describing the meeting as little more than a chance to “meet, greet and socialize.”

Three of Tuttle’s colleagues--Mayor Gregory Carson and City Council members Tom Buford and Jack Tingstrom--attended the conference. In addition to the $195 per-person registration fee, the price tag included $137 a night for each person’s hotel room, plus unspecified transportation and dining charges.

“Just because we work for the citizens doesn’t mean we’re entitled to go off on these junkets at their expense,” Tuttle said.

But frequent participants, including veteran politicians who return year after year, defend both the conference and the costs.

In Moorpark, for example, Montgomery has applied a concept he learned at the league conference--clustering development to preserve unspoiled stretches of open space--to half a dozen projects awaiting City Council hearings. He also credits league workshops with teaching him about trash issues, land-use planning and financial management.

“You need to keep in contact with other cities so you don’t reinvent the wheel,” said Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski, who stayed home this year but has attended other conferences. “We have to be prudent about expenses, now more than ever, but there aren’t any frills, I can tell you that.”

Essentially a lobbying group, the league represents all of California’s 470 incorporated cities, throwing its weight into the legislative fray on issues such as tax allocation and school funding. To join the league, cities pay a sliding fee based on population. A city the size of Camarillo anted up $6,820 this year, whereas Simi Valley paid $10,488.

“You can see the battles we’ve had budget-wise this year between the schools, the counties and the states,” Santa Paula City Administrator Arnold Dowdy said. “If we’re not represented, we’re certainly going to lose out.”

And, he admitted, the conference allows for a little ego-building as well. “It’s a chance for the council members to meet with their peers and find out--hopefully--that other cities are a lot worse off than we are here.”

Ventura County participants include:

Camarillo: Mayor Charlotte Craven, Councilmen Stanley J. Daily, David Smith, Michael Morgan, City Manager J. William Little and five other staff members.

Fillmore: Mayor Michael McMahan and council members Linda Brewster and Roger Campbell.

Moorpark: Mayor Paul Lawrason, Councilman Bernardo Perez and two staff members.

Ojai: Mayor Steven Olsen, council members Joe DeVito and Nina Shelley, City Manager Andrew Belknap and two other staff members.

Oxnard: Councilman Bedford Pinkard, City Manager Thomas Frutchey and five other staff members.

Port Hueneme: Council members Toni Young and Dorill Wright, one staff member.

Santa Paula: Mayor Margaret Ely, councilmen Alfonso Urias and John Melton.

Simi Valley: Council members Bill Davis, Judy Mikels and Sandi Webb, City Manager Lin Koester and three other staff members.

Thousand Oaks: Council members Alex Fiore and Judy Lazar, City Manager Grant Brimhall and eight other staff members.

Ventura: Mayor Carson, council members Buford and Tingstrom and one staff member.

Times staff writers Sara Catania and Peggy Lee and correspondents Jeff McDonald and Jeff Mitchell contributed to this report.